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[kriryah]

Reminiscent ▷ [mayor x gn!reader]

CHAPTER 1: Yī 一

A certain lone flower from a distant past brings to light the Mayor's backstory, back when he was previously a loyal warrior under the emperor's rule.

SUMMARY After finishing your duties, you packed lunch up for your brother and head over to the training grounds to visit him after awhile. What wasn't in your itinerary was somehow bumping into their Chief.

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(reader is implied to be a herbalist and has an older brother, cross posted from ao3)

You sweeped your floorboards and wiped the windowsills. You just dealt with the last client a few minutes ago and now you had the time to tidy your shop up before leaving. You arranged a few more bottles and jars on the shelves away from the edges of counter which they could fall and dusted your hands.

You finished your chores for the day, packing up the homemade lunch you made for your older brother you then headed out to the training grounds he'd stay whenever he's not out on patrol.

▬▬

You took a stroll on the meadow and sat down, your usual spot was a mountain cliff that was slightly taller than the walls of the grounds which gave you a clear view of what they were doing inside. Well, it was often just sparring or training so it wasn't much, yet it entertained you. Whenever you didn't have anything to do, you'd head on the cliff and watch as your brother trained with other fellow warriors. It was similiar like watching a movie of some sort. Sometimes while waiting for him, you'd pick up some flowers to make into a bouquet, or you'd pick up some nearby fruits.

Your brother knew of you coming to watch whenever he's still busy and waves at you anytime he spots you. Some of the warriors noticed you, others haven't, some don't care.

Yŭxuān. That was the name of your older brother by a couple years. He worked as a warrior under one of the emperor's favored men, (a.k.a Chief of War), and was currently turning 34 this year. He joined back when he was just 23 and ever since he had been working endlessly to be able to support the both of you ever since your parents both died. Since he would frequently injure himself, you took it upon yourself to become a herbalist.

A few minutes passed and you started to lay on your chest, head resting on your palms, your feet swaying and your eyes glided over to the man who were in front of the soldiers, commanding and ordering them as he paced around watching then with a stern gaze in his eyes. His look often intimidated new recruits or passerby's, it wasn't uncommon, he always had a composed and serious personality — often the talk of the town due to his success and fame of being one of the emperor's trusted men, often accompanying him side by side. He'd bring home victories from wars waging against other nations and his fighting prowess was not a joke and led him to be called the Chief of War.

It had been a few years since your brother had joined his army and time to time as you would visit your brother you'd see this cold man from time to time. Your interactions with him were nothing but quick glances and small, small talk. Comparable to waving at the guy you'd commonly walk by at the hallways at school for being in the same class with though never being generally close. He'd pay no attention to you of course mutually you also expected nothing from him.

You had gotten lost in thought and hadn't noticed that break-time has already begun. You sheepishly brushed the train of thoughts and picked up the lunchbox from the ground and made your way down.

▬▬

The training grounds were large consisting of multiple soldiers that could fit inside. You almost felt like an outsider, in which you are but that doesn't matter.

It gave off an aura of intimidation and you looked around to find your brother. A few soldiers noticed you and having recognized you as Yŭxuān's younger sibling they happily came and helped you find him.

You bid the two soldiers farewell and as you made your way to your brother, you weren't looking to where you were going and your shoulders bumped with another person. You turned to look at them and it was none other than their Chief.

“Sorry about that.” you said and bowed, the man stopped to listen. You managed to take a closer look at him. You didn't often had the chance to speak with him for longer than a few minutes. The Chief didn't fully turn to look at you. His side profile facing you and let out a small 'Mm.' before walking away, his blue cape following after him.

Odd guy he is.

Well, atleast that's done with. You returned to your previous objective and found your brother sitting down on the ground near the weapon racks.

“Yŭxuān!” you cheered loudly, running towards him, your brother noticed your approach and waved at you joyfully while wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Oh, Y/N.” he said calmly smiling as he stood to meet your height. “Sorry I haven't been able to come home recently, you know how things get around here.” he apologized, scratching the back of his head.

You shook your head, “Oh geez, don't you worry. I completely understand.” you said before showing him the lunch you prepared for him earlier this morning, “Also, I made you you a healthy meal this morning. Make sure to completely eat everything. I didn't suffer making this just for you to leave leftovers.” you teased and he chuckled. “Thanks alot, Y/N. What would I ever do without my most precious younger sibling?” he said being dramatic as he put a hand on the top of his forehead. You rolled your eyes and afterwards you both then decided to sit down on the grass right outside the training grounds. You observed as he began gobbling down what you made.

You giggled at him, “Looks like somebody's hungry.”

He rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Y/N.” he said in a joking manner. You both continued to chat and hurl light-hearted insults towards each other.

“Anyways, how's it been nowadays? I've been hearing from the folks that the demons around the outskirts of the kingdom are slowly turning active again.”

Yŭxuān looked up and thought about what to say, “You're right about that. For some reason the demons are getting rowdy again, but we already fended them off months ago. They don't often get back up as quickly as before so we've been wondering what's causing the change in their behavior.”

“Well?” you tilted your head.

He looked back down and sighed, “Still no clues. Due to how active they are, reports are turned in that they've started attacking nearby villages.” he looked at you with heavy eyes, “If it ever happens a demon attacks the village, you should run. Alright?”

He knew that if ever comes a time something happens to the village, you'd prioritize the health of others than yourself. It's one of your most known traits and one of your downfalls. If you believe you can save them, you'd try to save them even if that means getting harmed. And that is what your brother worries about.

“.. Alright. Got it.”

Yŭxuān's gaze softened a little, “But it'll be rare if that does happen. The village is situated near the outskirts of the kingdom, so if it does occur you can quickly inform a patrolling guard about it.”

You nodded then pointed at his meal.

“What..?” he looked at you confused

“All this demon talk and stuff but are you not gonna eat your chicken? It'll get cold.” you said.

Your brother huffed, “My goodness. Have you ever heard the term 'save the best things for last'?” you rolled your eyes at him, “Alright, yeah. What I care is that you eat that damn chicken, later on I'll see you handing it of to one of your friends.” you then heard Yŭxuān let out a quiet 'Ugh.. Fine.' before he then considered to eat the chicken.

Yŭxuān took a bite of the chicken using his hand and instantly kept on digging in. “How is it?” you asked grinning. “You can't keep on getting away with cooking good food. I don't know how you manage to pull it off.”

You shrugged, “I made a contract with the devil and sold my soul in exchange for otherworldly cooking skills.”

“...”

“...” You both stared at each other silently for awhile.

“Did you seriously believe that? I just follow recipes.” you said, breaking the silence.

“No it's not that, it's just out of all things you might have chosen, cooking skills is what you picked.”

“Look here, money and power are overrated.” you explained, “Wait hold on, did you actually sell your soul?” he said, convinced. “Obviously not. Why would I choose otherworldly cooking skills in exchange for my life?”

Alright, this conversation was starting to get weird. How'd you go from demon talk to contracts and cooking?

Whatever, atleast you enjoyed the moment. Times like this with your brother is often rare as he's always out in the lines protecting.

As you smiled warmly watching your brother eat, it also made you feel nostalgic back when you were both younger eating your mother's cooking back then. But suddenly, you notice something. You saw him put aside the cabbage you put in his meal.

“Hey, hey, hey. I saw that!” you said, “You better eat your vegetables. You think just because mom isn't here you'd be able to escape it?”

He whined, “Come on! I'm 33 goddamnit.”

You shaked your head, “No. I better see you consume that cabbage immediately.”

And 5 minutes went by trying to persuade your brother into eating his greens.

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Eventually, break-time was not forever and your brother had to return to attend his duties. “Well, time sure does fly fast. I'd best be going now.” he said, putting on his uniform. “Already? Damn, I thought we had only spent 10 minutes.” you said as you got up, “Anyways, I also have something to give you before you leave.” you told your brother. He turned his head and raised his brow, “What is it?” he asked.

You searched your pockets and bag twice and upon realising you left it at the cliff you were at earlier, “Shit! I packed you some medicine in case of rough situations but I happened to forgot I left it somewhere.” you said quietly as you looked at him panicking, “Yŭxuān stay here, I'll get something really quickly!” you immediately dashed right away and your brother was left in an array of confusion.

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You didn't expect that anyone would be taking the kit you left since it wasn't the most populated area, but your brother was about to head back and you didn't have much time left so you sprinted quickly and due to how fast you were moving you were unfortunate enough to not be able to see that something was infront only after did you realize after colliding with them and falling to the ground, the person you bumped into continued to stay on their feet, unbothered.

“Fuck, what the..?” you rubbed your eyes and looked up, “I—.. Who?” you were distraught as the man you'd often see commanding the other soldiers and whom was your brothers superior right before you in the forest. He was unfazed unlike you and held his hand out, you reluctantly accepted it and got up with a confused impression. You dusted your clothes and turned to him, “I'm sorry for bumping into you, Sir, I wasn't looking where I was going an—” you were stopped midway as he lent the box of medicine you were looking for earlier.

God, what was with you continously bumping into this poor man? He must think you're doing it in purpose or trying to get his attention..

“Ah, my babies! You found them.” you took them happily and looked at the familiar stranger once again. You glanced at him once more, for some reason he felt even lighter with your presence, he looked more calmer than earlier. You even noticed how he didn't bring his dao with him.

“You're Yŭxuān's younger sibling, am I correct?” he said directly. This took you aback for you were confused on how we would know despite the mininal interactions you both shared, counting earlier. You hesitated for a moment before answering, “Yes. You are correct, though, how did you know?” you asked. That question sounded stupid. Of course he'd know. “I seen you a few times speaking with him amongst the years he's been here.” he said.

Well, I guess it makes sense..

“I have also felt your gaze upon me during training sessions many times since the beginning. It's odd how not much had noticed we had a herbalist stalker watching me and my soldiers from afar.” he then added.

Oh god, he knows. You never really thought one the first "real" interactions you'd have with him was basically him calling you out for something you never sort of intended.

You basically froze on the spot, you never really thought you'd ever have the chance to speak with him yet here you are. You wondered if he was gonna murder you for doing that for years, you know how scary this guy could get, and now he thinks you're a stalker. A few moments of silence and you swallowed a lump in your throat, “I—..um, well.” you stuttered, “Look here, I never really wanted to spy on you, it was more like 'watching'.. Well, sort of.” you explained vaguely, he looked as if he found your little show amusing.

He spoke, “With all due respect, I don't mind as long as you don't do anything dangerous.” he said calmly, ending your thoughts of wanting to melt into the ground. You took a sigh of relief, phew, I'm not dying today.

“If you don't have anything else to say, I'll be leaving. I already spent enough time here and I must return.” he spoke.

“Hold on, wait. Could we perhaps go together? I also have to give these to my brother.” you asked, he considered for a moment before giving in.

“.. Sure.” he replied.

▬▬

Turns out, the Chief wasn't much of a talker.

A few minutes in and you could already feel the dreadful quiet sinking in accompanied with the lingering awkwardness. The dried leaves you crushed underneath your shoe when you stepped forward felt louder than usual and so were the sounds of the nature.

You're starting to regret walking back with him. Seriously, this is one of your most rarest moments with the guy and frankly the longest one yet. You have to atleast say something or make it more memorable somehow.

“Um.. Soo, what were you doing back in the forest? ” you asked. His eyes bore into you and once more it plunged into another quiet stillness.

Fortunately, instead of continuing his reserved persona he spoke. “I was taking a small stroll.” he replied flatly. They were not kidding when they said he was a little rigid.

You nodded, “Why the forest though? It's a little far from the grounds and it doesn't look very friendly for a stroll.” you said. Though even while saying this, you didn't mind the forest. You often went there to collect shrooms, flowers, insects and ingredients needed for your shop and even if you found it unsettling at first, it slowly grew on you.

Normally, other people would avoid the forest near the grounds since it was long, shrouded with large trees, murky and perceived as creepy. Nevertheless, it held loads of natural riches and rare plants. With this in mind, the Chief didn't seem to have the same sentiments as other people.

“This forest is isolated from any nearby villages, so people don't generally come here. The solitude is what I find preferable, the silence helps me clear my mind.” he explained. Wow.. “And.. I also find the surroundings and its florals here quite lovely to look at.”

Your eyes widened before agreeing with him, “Right?! I don't get why people don't come here alot, the nature here is pretty and the other wildlife here go hand in hand.” you started to ramble, not often is there someone that's actually interested in the forest. “And the herbs that grow here are effective in medicine, they're also flexible and I can make multiple different combinations of them.”Your eyes widened before agreeing with him, “Right?! I don't get why people don't come here alot, the nature here is pretty and the other wildlife here go hand in hand.” you started to ramble, not often is there someone that's actually interested in the forest. “And the herbs that grow here are effective in medicine, they're also flexible and I can make multiple different combinations of them.”

The Chief didn't expect you to maunder to him about your interest a second after he responded, but he didn't quite mind. He enjoyed seeing you even with the short interactions that built up amongst the years. He did not know when he became engrossed by you, but he dares not call it an attraction. Perhaps it was simply mild admiration for all your kind and selfless actions, or was it because of your caring nature towards your brother, or possibly your polite behavior? When this fascination began, he did not know but couldn't stop himself despite the reasoning to continue basking in this strange and mysterious feeling.

As you were busy talking about the different types of herbs that grow in the forest, what they could do and the different sorts of combinations you've made so far. You were too preoccupied in speaking that you didn't realize the uneven pathway in front of you. Due to this, you stumbled over on the uneven pathway but before you could trip, the Chief grabbed your arm and pulled you back to prevent you from slipping.

“You should be more careful.” he said. You pulled yourself together and he removed his hand from your arm, strangely, he felt an unusual sense of delight when he grabbed you. He shaked the feeling away.

You awkwardly chuckled, “Oof, sorry. I didn't realize the path was uneven. Pretend that never happened.” Did somebody wish you bad luck? What is with your clumsiness today?

“Don't worry about it. What's better is that your unharmed, come, we should be nearing the grounds.” he said softly, extending his hand. You took it out of courtesy and you both walked out of the forest, noticing the place in a distance.

▬▬

As you both walked on the grassy path a thought came to you.

“Ah! I forgot to introduce myself. The whole time we've known each other we haven't had the chance to formally introduce ourselves.” you scratched your neck, “I'm Y/N L/N.” you told him. He mused, “Hm, a pleasure to meet you, Mx. L/N.” he already knew your name from your brother but he suppose he could pretend and play along.

You shaked your head, “No need to refer to me by my last name. Just call me Y/N.” you smiled. “Well then.. Since I introduced myself first, suppose it's your turn now.”

“My name is of no importance or necessity, Y/N.” he answered, “You may refer to me as Chief. I do not mind.” he said blankly. You shrugged, “Oh alright.” you decided not to pry any further and enjoyed the walk back with him.

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In the end when you returned, you decided to make sure to spill everything that happened with him to your brother. (He ended up being very curious about it and asked alot of questions. At some point he thought you and his superior were actually secretly dating to which you said no.)

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NOTE anywaysz to explain things more clearly since the summary I left off was to vague — this is an AU where the reader met the mayor in the past and you and him used to have an intimate relationship, unfortunately, you passed due to a decision the emperor conducted.

Ivory Lady (LBD basically acting as the emperor's advisor), approached the enraged Mayor as an opportunity to get him to serve her by promising to revive Reader, he agrees and the contract is sealed.

And well LBD never really explained the contract fully, and as Mayor grew stronger with power he eventually forgot his original reason to why he pursued the path he forged in the first place.

Centuries later, he comes across Reader in a different time where they are working as a barista in a coffeeshop that Mayor happened to be visiting. A sudden hit of nostalgia hits him and makes him wonder if he had left something or (someone) in the past he could never really remember.

Lastly this will be starting with the past and slowly progresses to the present

Until the next chapter!